Ban on smoking in hotels, bars, clubs: Minister UT Khader
Bengaluru, November 19: Urban Development Minister UT Khader said that the government has completely banned smoking cigarette and consuming other tobacco products in all public places including hotels, bars and clubs.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, the Minister said that a circular was issued from the Municipal Administration Department over this issue keeping in mind the public health. As per the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Health of Non-smokers Act 2001, the government has banned smoking in all public places including hotels, bar and restaurants, pubs and clubs with immediate effect. Those who would not follow this order would lose their licence, he warned.
His department would require the cooperation of all departments to control the tobacco-related health problems. So, a meeting of the heads of all departments was convened under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister. The government was also thinking of revoking subsidy on tobacco and alcohol products, he said.
Minors and those who do not smoke should not be allowed into ‘smoking zone’ and no food, breakfast, liquor, cigarette, water, tea and coffee would be served in ‘smoking zone’, he said.
The Minister also held dialogues with a delegation of the USA on urban programmes and controlling contagious diseases. Former minister Suresh Kumar, MLC Srikante Gowda and others were present.
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7 held for running fake call centre in South Kolkata
Kolkata (PTI): Seven people were arrested from the Parnashree area in the southern part of the city for allegedly running a fake call centre, a police officer said on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided a house on Netaji Subhas Road on Friday night and found the fake call centre operating from the ground floor, he said.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had set up a bogus company using forged documents and posed as employees of an antivirus firm to call citizens in the US, the officer said.
"The callers would gain the trust of victims and then use remote access to take control of their phones or other digital devices. The accused allegedly siphoned off large sums of money, running into millions of dollars, from victims' accounts," he said.
Five laptops, two WiFi routers, six mobile phones and four headsets were seized from the accused, he said, adding that the seven are being questioned to ascertain the full extent of the racket and to identify others involved.
